The Reluctant Pioneer

Matilda Koontz cherishes her life as a wife and mother on a Missouri farm, but her hardworking husband wants to claim free farmland in the Pacific Northwest. When he suggests selling the farm to trek two thousand miles across the Oregon Trail, she balks. But in the spring of 1847, Matilda and Nicholas Koontz and their four young sons embark on the grueling journey westward. Fresh graves testify to the dangers of disease, accidents, starvation, and a multitude of hazards threatening her fami...